Paper Summary:

The paper introduces the field of forensic anthropology and how it contributes to identity formation. The paper details a trauma assessment and explains the major categories of trauma as they are manifest on the human skeleton.

From the Paper:

"A forensic anthropologist can utilize skill to determine cause of death if the death trauma caused physical injury to the bones, such as in cases where strangulation occurred and the thyroid bone was fractured. Blunt force trauma injuries, especially to the skull are also often evident in skeletal remains, as well as entrance and exit wounds of bullets, when they break or course through bones and of course sharp instrument trauma can also be evident on the skeleton. (Rhine, 1998, pp. 199-200) The patterns of blunt force trauma, sharp weapon or projectile trauma are all relatively clear, if one knows what to look for.
"Blunt force trauma that results in death is often associated with skull injuries, though it can be evident in cases where large bones are broken, say due to extreme kicking, dropping or having large objects forced on the body, such as the grill of a car. The trauma assessment in this case is looking for unclean breaks where the shape is indicative of blunt force. The injury usually projects in from the point of the break and creates a spider web effect on the skull, and a spiral or other blunt injury to other large bones. (Pickering& Bachman, 1996, p. 127)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Lenore T. Barbian,1 Ph.D. and Paul S. Sledzik, March 2008. Healing Following Cranial Trauma, Journal of Forensic Science, 53 (2) 263-268.
• Bartelink, E.J. Wiersema, J.M. & Demaree, R.S. November 2001. Quantitative analysis of sharp-force trauma: an application of scanning electron microscopy in forensic anthropology. Journal of Forensic Sciences 46 (6) 1-6.
• Croft, A. M. & Ferllini, R. November 2007. Macroscopic Characteristics of Screwdriver Trauma, Journal of Forensic Science, 52 (6) 1243-1251.
• Evans, C. 2004. Murder Two: The Second Casebook of Forensic Detection. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
• Kimmerle E. H. & Baraybar, J.P. 2008. Skeletal Trauma. Boca Raton Fl. CRC Press.

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